


The Ambassador and the Thief

by ninedaysaqueen



Category: The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
Genre: Eugenides being clever, Eugenides is evil, Friendship, Gen, Manipulation, Ornon & Eugenides, Pre-Series, Royalty, what happened to Ornon's sheep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 08:34:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11847867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninedaysaqueen/pseuds/ninedaysaqueen
Summary: Just what happened to Ornon's sheep and how did Eugenides earn the ambassador's respect?





	The Ambassador and the Thief

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shewhoguards](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewhoguards/gifts).



> Authors Notes: This was written for the 2017 Hamiathes’s Gift exchange for shewhoguards, who wanted to see an exploration of Eugenides’s and Ornon’s relationship. This is something I’ve actually always wanted to write, so thanks for giving me the motivation! I hope this is something along the lines of what you wanted? Also, sheep. 
> 
> I assure you, no sheep were harmed in the writing of this fanfic. Perhaps, an ambassador or two, but no sheep. 
> 
> Very minor SPOILERS for Thick as Thieves.

  
Ornon never intended to befriend the son of the Queen Thief. He'd always thought of Eugenides as such. For as surely as the boy was his father's son in tactical skill and stubbornness, he was his mother’s child in all other matters worth mentioning.

The ambassador never intended to become the thief's secret sparring partner either.

When Ornon was a young man, he'd dreamed of making a real difference in the world. He’d always had a talent for diplomacy and the ambassador decided long ago to serve his country with words instead of a sword. He wanted his fight to be about sparing the lives of young men and the tears of widows with diplomacy, good leadership, and compromise.

He'd almost given up once. Until the sheep.

*******

When Eugenides was still a boy, his grandfather and mother passed, but still a boy, nonetheless, Ornon decided to resign from his position. It was an early retirement for an ambassador. The gray only just starting to settle into his hair and the worry lines his mother told him he would have hadn’t quite formed on his brow.

He was failing in Attolia. His efforts to keep the country and their relations with her stable, not just for Eddis's sake but the entire peninsula, were not bearing fruit. Some might say the situation had grown worse. 

The queen of Attolia was bordering on insane, stooping to further cruelty and violence to deter her barons from charging through one another’s fields burning everything they saw. She was the queen of her people, and this had pitted her against her barons in a power struggle spanning the entire length of her reign.

When Ornon was a young man, he'd dreamed of ending wars and saving lives with nothing but his own political cunning. He knew better now. There was little to be done to influence the heart of another. Crowns would change heads, kingdoms would fall, people would die, and there was nothing Ornon could do to stop it.

He was returning to his family estate after this political season. He had already formally notified the queen, and she would have plenty of time to choose his replacement.

Her Majesty’s brow had furrowed when she read the parchment. “Ornon, sir…” she started. “I cannot think of any member of my court with your experience in–” he gently interrupted.

“My Queen, forgive me, but I believe there is little more that I can do in service to you. Perhaps, a fresh face would be more amendable to Her Majesty of Attolia.” He paused. “And her barons.”

“Ornon…” the queen said reproachfully, “You're hardly to blame for the situation in Attolia. In fact, your maneuvering is largely responsible for why she is even willing to still accept an ambassador from my court.” She looked at him pointedly. “You of all people know how she hates me.”

Ornon nodded. Most of Eddis might be ignorant as to why the queen of Attolia hated their mountain queen, and Ornon guessed that most wouldn't believe it if they did, however Ornon, like most of Eddis’s ambassadors, was well-versed in the low land queen's hatred.

Ornon broke the heavy pause. “I believe that no one man can be blamed for the problems of an entire nation, Your Majesty. Nor can one queen.” He inclined his head respectfully towards her, and she smiled that gentle, regal smile. “Neither can any one person hope to fix them. I am replaceable, My Queen, as are all the men who serve you.”

The queen's expression was unreadable. “What will you do instead?” she asked.

“My wife has already returned to my family estates,” he explained. “Once a replacement is found, we intend to raise sheep in the mountains.”

“Sheep…” the queen repeated slowly.

Ornon smiled a tad chagrined. “It's a peaceful life. One that I feel will suit us well.” He waited a moment before continuing. “I am tired, Your Majesty, and my wife grows tired of me being tired.”

The queen's shoulders sagged. “If this is what you truly wish, Ornon, I cannot stand in your way.”

Ornon took a horse to the coast, and a ship the rest of the way to the capital city of Attolia, prepared to serve the queen for just a little while longer. He didn't know of the argument that took place between the queen and her thief just after he left, nor did he know that the Queen of Thieves’s son had been listening.

*******

It wasn't long after that the letters started coming. First confused and concerned, then increasingly frantic and upset. His wife, Rhea, was writing to him about their sheep disappearing. It was only one or two at a time, but when the shepherds found the livestock, the animals were not in their natural state. The sheep had been dyed. Various strange colors, according to his wife. They now had several dozen sheep wandering amongst the flock like brightly colored flowers in a field of white.

The shepherds were so distraught that they’d taken to guarding the sheep at night along with the sheepdogs, but despite their vigilance, one or two sheep still managed to slip away every night without anyone noticing.

Ornon wasn't too terribly concerned. The sheep's wool could still be sold after shearing season, albeit at a discounted rate. As a rule, textile merchants bought wool white from farmers, and dyed it themselves the colors they needed for the garments or fabrics they produced.

As long as the number of sheep being “decorated” was small, (really what was a few dozen out of a flock of several hundred?) the financial loss would not be too severe. Ornon had invested a great deal of gold into this retirement venture and losing the spring harvest of wool would cost him dearly.

His wife was confused as to why this was happening and who could possibly be benefiting from it? Ornon had a theory, and promptly wrote to the queen and asked her to please string her thief up by his thumbs till he confessed. Honestly, a servant to the queen and still indulging in school boy tricks? Once reprimanded by the queen, Ornon hoped Eugenides would grow bored of his game. When he returned home, Ornon may have to force the young man to break his oath to never touch a sword unless his life depended on it.

*******

Ornon knew it was extremely unwise to beg leave in the middle of the political season, but this prank was getting out of hand. The most recent letter from his wife detailed accounts of their sheep returning shaved. Shaved. If Eugenides had his way, the boy would singlehandedly bankrupt the ambassador.

His queen had been sympathetic in her responses to his pleading letters, but no one at court had seen the thief leave the palace keep for months. The fact that no one had seen Eugenides leave meant very little, but it was physically impossible for the boy to travel to Ornon’s lands and back again every night.

He didn't know how Eugenides was sabotaging his sheep, but he knew it was definitely him when he saw the smug smile on the young man's face after returning to his country's capital.

“Ornon…” Eugenides drawled. “What brings you to the library? Need a good book on animal husbandry?”

“Care to tell me what you're doing, young man?” The ambassador wasn't going to play games with a boy whose beard hadn’t even come in yet.

Eugenides glanced innocently around the library. “Reading. Is your eyesight starting to fail you, Ambassador?”

“The sheep!” Ornon shouted.

“What sheep?” said Eugenides.

Ornon groaned in frustration and started to aggressively pace the room. “My sheep! The ones you’ve been dyeing strange colors and shaving!”

“I can assure you, Ambassador,” Eugenides spoke, the picture of nonchalance, “I haven't left court for weeks.” Ornon’s angry pacing now spanned the entire length of the library.

“But I must say, if such a thing were happening to my property…” the boy continued in vague disinterest. Ornon stopped pacing. “I’d want to see it for myself.”

Ornon seethed, but he could take a hint. He slammed the heavy library doors hard when he left.

*******

Rhea was ecstatic to see him. Her appearance was frazzled, and her usual calm smile was rife with worry and confusion. He asked her to show him the sheep that had been sabotaged. The shepherds used dogs to heard all the unfortunate animals into one pen.

Ornon starred. It took him a moment, but he soon realized his wife hadn’t mentioned anything about which colors the sheep were being dyed. The animals in the pen were varying shades of red and gold and a few were brown and black. They were the colors one would need to make Eddisian winter uniforms. Uniforms for soldiers going to war. Ornon left the barn without a word.

*******

“I know what you're doing.” The ambassador had returned to the queen’s library, angry enough to challenge Eugenides to a duel.

“Hmm…” the boy said politely.

“It's not going to work.“

“Is it?” Eugenides responded in that infuriatingly disinterested tone.

“You’re trying to remind me why I became an ambassador and not a soldier. What my livestock’s wool could be used for if these kingdoms go to war.”

“Not if, Ambassador," said the thief suddenly serious. “When, and Eddis is going to need every loyal man she has.”

Ornon clenched his jaw stubbornly. The stupid child was right, but his pride wasn’t inclined to let him admit it. He stormed out.

The letter arrived the morning after next by urgent courier. All the sheep. Their flock of hundreds and hundreds had all been shaved.

*******

Ornon didn't return to his family estate that spring. He could hardly afford to after the spring harvest disappeared in one night. He left his wife to minding the flock. The animals weren’t harmed. They would produce a new coat next winter. The loan from the queen saved him, and insured he didn't have to dismiss all of his farm hands or sell any of his children.

The ambassador did challenge Eugenides to a duel. The boy ran away and didn't appear at court again till it was time for Ornon to return to Attolia.

Many months after the incident, Ornon did finally admit to himself that he was considering returning to Attolia even before financial ruin had made the decision for him, but only because Eugenides had proven something to him. It was possible to influence the heart of another.

Granted, the boy’s methods involved manipulation and vauge threats, but Eugenides could do it. This boy could do great things if only Ornon could force him to put his mind to it.

*******

Other than the occasional bleating noise whenever Eugenides was somewhere near his shoulder, the ambassador and the thief didn't speak of the sheep till several years later. Not till after he had become the thief with one hand. Not till he had stolen an entire country. It was only after the boy had become a man.

Ornon was dubious on becoming the king’s secret sparring partner from the beginning.

“How does this benefit me, Your Majesty?” he'd asked petulantly.

“Well…” Eugenides smirked. “You will have the opportunity to give me a great many bruises.”

Ornon quickly agreed after that.

*******

“Have you ever wondered how I did it? With the sheep?” Eugenides said conversationally between strikes and parries. The isolated storage room the queen had ordered emptied of extra drapes was small but large enough for two men to practice sword play. He still smiled at the memory of that conversation. The bit about the moth balls had been very funny.

“I know better than to give you an opportunity to brag, Your Majesty,” Ornon responded, his voice flat.

Eugenides sighed and called a halt. “I know you can do better than that, Ambassador. You used to spar with my father.”

Ornon resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He knew of Eugenides’s skill but the healing wound in his side and the metal hook in place of his hand was causing the older man to stay some of his harsher blows. Also, it was sometimes difficult for Ornon to look at Eugenides and not still see the child he'd known. The child of two of his closest friends.

He had been friends with his mother as much as some may find that hard to believe. The Queen Thief may have possessed the same ability as her son to drive the most patient person to violence, but she was far more liberal with her charm and everyone soon forgot to be angry at her. Her son, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy having the entire court screaming for his head on a spike.

“Would you like to know why I did it then?” Eugenides asked tauntingly.

Ornon put his cudgel down and seated himself on an empty crate. “I already know why.”

The king smiled wickedly. “Oh, but there’s more. I always have several ulterior motives in play.”

“I don’t doubt it,” answered Ornon weakly.

The king sighed deeply, his playful tone gone. “I wanted someone in Attolia who would do the right thing if I were ever captured.” Eugenides’s voice was distant as if he were discussing tonight’s main course and not the time Ornon had nearly gotten him hanged to spare him further torture and pain.

Ornon glared at him. They tried not to talk about it. “I failed,” was all the ambassador could say.

“Better luck next time,” said the king as he threw his sword up in the air in an elaborate and completely ineffectual twirl before catching it by the hilt. “Back to it?”

Ornon stood and slashed at the king half-heartedly.

“You know, it really was your fault,” said Eugenides. Ornon paused and he could feel all the blood draining from his face. “You should’ve paid your shepherds better.”

The ambassador and the thief dueled long into the evening. Ornon shouting insults while the king laughed. His Majesty had a great deal many bruises by the time he returned to his queen that night. He deserved each and every one of them.

When his wife asked him about the ambassador and the sheep the king would only say, “I had the wool sent out to make blankets for the poor in the lower city.” As if that made it any better. Irene rolled her eyes as she tended, unsympathetically, to her husband’s bruises.

Once the king had his fill of beatings, he put the ambassador on a ship to Ianna-Ir to escort a royal guard on a very important and dangerous mission. Ornon was just glad the king’s machinates were being directed across the Middle Sea for a time and not at him.

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Notes: I don’t know if the MoW and his wife were friends with Ornon (that’s not cannon), but I want them to be. One of Eugenides’s lines there near the end was directly inspired by a popular incorrect QT quote. 
> 
> This was inspired and written as an attempt to add backstory to a few lines in the series. Most notably, Ornon’s respect for Eugenides, the sheep, and why Ornon was so motivated to give Eugenides bruises, not that the last one really needs much explaining.


End file.
